Rhodes and International Study

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rhodes College
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<p>Hi Friends,</p>

<p>You have been missed, Fireflyscout and Splashmom! I wondered if you felt the same way until I read Splashmom's message about the above topic on the Parent's Forum. I think there are plenty of places to study international relations, but maybe not all that many where our kids will be happy. I really think we have to look at the make-up of our own youngins. I have been listening to my son with my heart lately as he makes his decision, (and he hasn't been talking much, so it is more like looking for body-language than anything else. And I have been paying attention to which books he has out on his bed. Today it is Wash U, as more and more it has been.)</p>

<p>In any case, I believe with all my heart that yur daughter will be able to learn all she really needs to as an undergraduate at Rhodes. I had a very good friend at Sewanee when I was a student who ended up getting a PhD at Harvard upon graduation in international affairs; what LAC's do is prepare you to think, analyze, synthesize. I can understand your D wanting a more cosmopolitan area than Sewanee offers, but I really think the opportunities, and the potential for financial help via Merit Money is excellent at Rhodes. </p>

<p>I have been keeping quiet, as has S's dad about his going to Rhodes, just hoping the mind is open there, as we both think he has a wonderful chance to study anything he would want to there. I am thinking he is a little star-struck by the offers he received and will go to Brown on Sunday to check it out. It may be perfect, and it may not. The part of him that bleeds orange may not find anyone to watch football with him when the Vols play, not to mention the fact that they won't be on in Rhode Island. ;)</p>

<p>I say, to each his own. The real conversation in my house will begin when S comes back from Brown. He may well want to stay nearer home. We will know soon!</p>

<p>In thinking of your concern, Splashmom, I'll bet you will have a better idea of what your daughter will really want to do after she comes back from Governor's School. I am so happy for you that she has this opportunity. The faculty there will make impressions on her of where she would be well-served to go; she needs to keep her ear to the ground. </p>

<p>I just have a good feeling that you will find the right place for her. Hope to hear from you!</p>

<p>Momo3</p>

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<p>How nice to see the light on in the Rhodes community!</p>

<p>As it turns out, my daughter is also interested in IR (must be the hot major). So maybe Splashmom and I will cross paths somewhere. Daughter and I will be touring Macalester in May. Which is funny, because my daughter HATES the cold. Although she claims that if she chooses a college in a colder climate (and given that we live in Texas, they'll ALL be colder climates), then she will choose to deal with the cold. I've been teaching her how to knit.</p>

<p>Momofthree, I hope your son starts verbalizing his intentions. Interpreting the other signals can be so exhausting. I have to analyze the intonation of my son's grunts to determine his current mood. Your son has some wonderful choices; all will give him an excellent education.</p>

<p>In the meantime, to keep this Rhodes-related, I've really enjoyed watching the new library being built via their webcam. It really looks amazing!</p>

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<p>Firefly,</p>

<p>The Rhodes library is going to be an amazing addition. I really would love to be able to tour it!</p>

<p>My D's sister-in-law-to-be went to Mac and really loved it. She said she was not as off-put by the cold as she might have thought, especially since there are tunnels from place to place so you don't have to go out in the cold! Let us know what you find!</p>

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<p>Good morning, momofthree and fireflyscout! I've missed our chats here on the Rhodes board, too! </p>

<p>momofthree, I can't begin to imagine what it must be like at your house. Your S has so many wonderful opportunities to consider. I feel sure he'll make the right decision. From everything that you've mentioned before, he sounds like a very intelligent young man who really gives a lot of thought to things. I will be very interested to see where he lands. I can absolutely understand your desire for him to keep his mind open to Rhodes. I think it is a wonderful school with wonderful opportunities, especially with someone who has been awarded the Bellingrath! Kudos to you if you have been able to keep quiet. I can only hope that I can show the strength and restraint that you currently have with your S when it is time for my D to make her decision.</p>

<p>fireflyscout, maybe we will cross paths at some point. That would be fun! I do hope you and your D enjoy your visit to Macalester. My D is pretty determined to stay where the weather is a bit more mild. She doesn't want to close the door to any opportunities, but feels she can find something that meets all her criteria, including the weather. Please remind me where all your D has considered and or visited.</p>

<p>A woman I've known for a few years through school (I'm the school nurse, she's a mom, our girls played basketball together in junior high) stopped in my clinic the other day to ask me to pass on congratulations to D for making Girls State. Said she had seen it in the paper and likes to keep up with that because her oldest D had gone several years previous. As we got to talking and she asked me where D wants to go to school, I rattled off the list of places she is researching and when I mentioned Centre, she said her oldest D is a senior there. I told her we are scheduled to go weekend after next for Junior Days. Coincidentally, her D is one of the students who gives tours so she gave me her e-mail address and told me to have my D e-mail her. D is very excited and e-mailed her yesterday. One thing I did learn about Centre, thanks to Curmudgeon, that may also be of interest to you fireflyscout ... they offer something called the Centre Fellows Scholarship. Here's a blurb about it and I've attached a link, too. </p>

<p>If a student is nominated by the high school counselor and chooses to become a Centre Fellow, he or she is guaranteed a minimum scholarship level of $6,000 per year. A Centre Fellow can certainly win a higher scholarship, but at least he or she will get $6,000. It's really a good deal that requires no commitment on the student's part! <a href="http://www.centre.edu/web/admission/fellows_program/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.centre.edu/web/admission/fellows_program/index.html&lt;/a> That sounds wonderful to me! </p>

<p>We have talked of taking a trip in July to visit a few more schools. We thought of flying into DC, renting a car, seeing the sights, driving down through VA to hit a couple of schools there, then maybe SC and NC. Besides William & Mary, UVA, Davidson and UNC, any other suggestions for that trip? I think I'm leaving out the one in SC, but can't think of it right now. I hope you both have a great weekend! :)</p>

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<p>Colleges visited: Southwestern, Tulane, Davidson, William&Mary, Williams, Skidmore, Hamilton, Allegheny, Centre, Sewanee, Rhodes. Will be touring Carleton and Macalester next month. Daughter would like to tour Bowdoin, too (not likely - our travel budget is tapped out). Not on her list any more: William and Mary (which had previously been her top choice), Skidmore, Centre.</p>

<p>Let me explain Centre. We really were impressed with what Centre offers - study abroad opportunities, internships, academic quality, preformances at the Norton Center. But we toured during the summer, and Centre just seemed a bit boring. Nothing we could really put our finger on, though. I'll be very interested to hear your experiences at Junior Days. FYI - there's a Shaker Village nearby that does a fabulous Sunday dinner.</p>

<p>At this point, her favorites are Davidson and Rhodes.</p>

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<p>Wow, fireflyscout, y'all have really made the rounds! I see that William and Mary, previously first on your daughter's list, is no longer in the running. May I ask why that is. It might be helpful to us as D is interested in visiting W&M this summer. Speaking of summer, I can see how one might not get a true impression of a school if visiting in the summer, so maybe we should change our plans to visit in September. D's favorite so far, of the few we have visited, is definitely Rhodes. Thanks for mentioning the Shaker village near Centre. My cousin lives in Lexington and we thought it would be fun to meet up with her and do something, and that certainly sounds like something that would be fun ... and tasty!!! I'll be happy to let you know how we make out at Centre. What were your and D's thoughts on Tulane and Davidson? Davidson is on the list of schools D would like to visit.</p>

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<p>LOL - yep, we did a three week road trip last summer. I LOVED seeing so much of the country, but booking all those hotels was a pain. Rand McNally did a nice job of mapping the route (except for New Jersey - what is with the highways there?).</p>

<p>William and Mary seemed too impersonal to D. She was also unimpressed by tour guide, who had never been in the library!</p>

<p>Davidson was a complete surprise. D had no knowledge of it before visit, and was blown away. She loved everything she heard - study abroad, academic opportunities, social life, definitely the honor code, and they have sailing (D loves to sail). She also likes the location - near a city, but not in a city.</p>

<p>Husband went with D to Tulane. She enjoyed it, was invited to go sailing with the sailing club, but I think it might be too big for her. I think she really wants intense, intimate academics.</p>

<p>I think the Shaker Village is called Pleasant Hill - it's about a 15 minute drive from Danville.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for the insight on W&M. Davidson is certainly one school she wants to visit on our whirlwind tour in July. Our Ds sound very much alike in wanting the "intense, intimate academics". It will be very interesting to see where they both land. Thanks for the info on Pleasant Hill. We'll give it a try. :)</p>

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<p>Splashmom,</p>

<p>My ex went to W& M and though he really enjoyed his time there (was an in-stater in the honors program) he said the academics were really cut-throat at the time, especially for Freshmen as they "had" to flunk out some of the kids. That was during the Vietnam era, though, so things may have changes. I have seen the campus, too, and though it was lovely in many ways, it seemed impersonal to me as well.</p>

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<p>momofthree, thank you for telling me that. Wow, although it looks good on paper, etc., I can't imagine my D at a school that is impersonal. Although D is much happier when challenged, I also wouldn't want to see her at a school that is "cut-throat". When she was much younger, (especially her kindergarten, 2nd and 4th grade years), she would come home and say things like "I'm afraid I'm not the number one reader. I'm afraid I'm not the number one in math," etc. She's always been very hard on herself. During her kindergarten year, she had "worries of the month". She would actually get sick to her stomach. I took her to the doctor and asked if I needed to seek further treatment ... like a psychiatrist! Her pediatrician assured me that she was just an over-achieving type A personality who expected perfection from herself. He said the vomiting was due to a super-acidic stomach which stemmed from worrying. He prescribed Zantac for her stomach, and H and I told her if she felt like something needed to be worried about, she should tell us and we would do the worrying for her so she could go about just being a kid and having fun. Thank goodness she eventually outgrew it. A friend told me just the other day she had read or heard somewhere that W&M has the highest suicide rate of any college or university. I don't want something like that for my D. Although I want her to do well in school, college should be lots of fun, too!</p>

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<p>Oh, Splashmom, I am so thankful your daughter has such loving, concerned parents. I have known so many kids over the years who drive themselves so hard, and have real somatic complaints as a result. Some really get to the point that they don't like to go to school at all. I had not heard to W & M suicide rate, but that does make me worry a bit. I guess it is worth a look, just in case it turns out to be the ONE or your daughter but you will have your eyes wide open.</p>

<p>I appreciated your asking about my son and his (lack of) decision on the Parent's Forum. Still not clear what to do, and I don't see him enough to help much. The trip to Brown has left him spinning, both with ideas, and with overdue work. And when the Pres. of Rhodes called last night S was not there to get the call, was at orchestra rehearsal. He said so many nice things (they had had a reception at his house during the Bellingrath Weekend) and said "We just hope that he will come to Rhodes!" I could respond with great assurance "We do too!!!" But, I don't have any way to know what will finally happen. I do know that if the decision were mine for ME, I would go to Rhodes, in part because it feels right to me.</p>

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<p>Did your daughter make a decision. We are trying to decide between Rhodes and Emory.</p>

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<p>When we visited Rhodes, my husband and i were concerned about the safety of Memphis. It reminded us of New Orleans (good neighborhoods turn into bad ones within a block). Any observations?</p>

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<p>Hi carrgo! Welcome to CC! I think I am the only one with a senior writing presently, and maybe you are wondering about him? ME, TOO! He just got back home from a soccer tournament in Memphis which is five hours from where we live, and he still hasn't made up his mind. I think. At least he hasn't decided out loud! In my visit to Rhodes, I was impressed by the apparent safety of the campus. It is in a city, yes, so it is not perfectly safe, but being in a city was son's chief criterion in winnowing out schools; he loves the action a city provides. His junior class trip was to Memphis, many folks I know have lived or spent time there, or gone to Rhodes, and I have never heard of a crime directly affecting these folks. I don't know much about where Emory is in Atlanta, but I personally might be more concerned about Atlanta. Rhodes seems so much more contained than, say, UPenn, where my daughter is in Philly. </p>

<p>What other things is your child thinking of when making a decision?</p>

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<p>We live right outside of Houston (9 years here) and previously lived in New Orleans, (15 years), so being in a city is important to her. Our concern Atlanta vs. Memphis is that you can go freeway downtown in Atlanta, but in Memphis you have to pass through some very seed areas to get to town. We do have friends in both cities in case she needs someone. </p>

<p>Her other concerns are of course the prestige factor, money (she's been offered the Bellingrath and a good scholarship from Emory, also), personal attention (Rhodes faculty/studen ratio us 12:1 and Emory is 9:1), internships, study abroad programs and areas of study offered. My concern is that if she can't get a class in during one semester it might not be offered until 3 years later. Lots of stuff to consider. She and her dad are leaving today to make another quick visit to Emory.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I do know that if the decision were mine for ME, I would go to Rhodes, in part because it feels right to me.

[/quote]

momofthree
I so understand your sentiment above. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to refrain from blurting out where you hope to see your child go to college. Kudos to you, momofthree, it sounds like you are really hanging in there and allowing your S to make that decision without pressure from you. I only hope I can do the same when the time comes. I just know that wherever your S chooses, it will be the right place for him. I'm so glad to know that you'll continue to frequent the board as your S2 prepares for his senior year of h.s. </p>

<p>Can you please comment on the junior year vs. senior year of h.s.? D has been so terribly busy this year that I just can't imagine things getting any busier. Because she is going away for six weeks this summer (Girls State, Governor's School), she has to quit her job at Baskin Robbins (she's been there for almost a year). She was going to wait until the week before she left, but we talked a few weeks ago and she gave them notice a couple of weeks ago that tomorrow will be her last day. Although she's bummed because she really likes the job and the people, and especially the $$, she thought it would be a good idea to spend the time studying for AP exams and the SAT. DH and I are all for that. She said when she returns home in July, she would like to find a filing job or something of the sort at a law office. I love the responsibility she has shown since getting a job, but I do want her to have fun in her senior year and not feel so pressured. I suggested that she consider not working during her senior year, but she said she "needs to make some money" and DH said he has been so impressed with her responsibility that he thinks it would be a mistake for her not to work. Any suggestions?</p>

<p>Big concern, momofthree. D has expressed a desire to visit Oberlin. Although we consider ourselves liberal, I just cannot even imagine her there,nor can I imagine wasting the time and money to visit there. I have expressed my concerns about Oberlin, but I don't want to dismiss the idea altogether as it may appear to her that I don't value what she says. Help!</p>

<p>carrgo
Welcome to the Rhodes board! I must admit before we visited Rhodes, I had some preconceived opinions of Memphis. That probably would have been the last place in Tennessee I could have imagined my D going to college, but after visiting, I have a completely different opinion. Safety was certainly a concern for us, but when we visited, we felt completely safe on campus and in the immediate area. Quite honestly, there was only one area we drove through (construction messed up our GPS) while a bit "lost" that concerned me. We stayed in a hotel downtown and walked and rode a trolley to Beale Street. At no time, did I feel unsafe. If D were to tell me today that she plans to attend Rhodes, I would be thrilled. We looked at Emory, too. D absolutely loved it when we were there. For some reason, she doesn't really seem to be considering that much anymore. I really couldn't say why, but the next time we have a chance to sit down and talk colleges, we will get the list out of those in which she has expressed an interest and update them. carrgo, does your child know what he/she wants to study yet?</p>

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<p>Awesome news on the Bellingrath, carrgo! momofthree's son was also offered the Bellingrath. I am so impressed with both of your children! carrgo, I am interested in what you said about the classes and the possibility of not getting it until three years later if unable to get in at first. Please elaborate. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Carrgo, I tried to email you, but for some reason the email came back to me! Sorry about that! I am thrilled that your daughter has such great choices! I am still not sure what my S is going to do, I think he is going to stretch it out till the very last second, just because he is listening to so many voices here and is beginning to have trouble hearing his own! I am very supportive of anything he chooses to do, and am just in prayer that it will bring a happy result. Brown seems to be nearest to the top at the moment, but things may change!</p>

<p>I have a dear friend who lived for years in Houston. Do you like it there? I live in a very rural TN area, and it is hard for me to imagine managing in a big city, but there would be so much excitement and so much to do!</p>

<p>Take care!</p>

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<p>Splashmom, I really appreciate your kindness and your support. I am glad I have another youngin going next year so I can maintain this great contact. S2 is very different from S1, and it will be a very different, but very interesting experience!</p>

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<p>Carrgo- welcome to the Rhodes board! Which direction are you from Houston? I'm up on the north side (think master planned community). </p>

<p>Congratulations on the Bellingrath; that is quite an honor. D and I toured Rhodes last summer, and the area seemed pretty safe to us. The Rhodes campus is quite contained. Good luck with your decision!</p>

<p>Splashmom - for a while my D was talking about Oberlin, but there are so many other colleges she's interested in that she has seemed to "forget" about it. D had also been interested in Reed, but after reading some postings in their livejournal community she decided the students were too stressed and unhappy. </p>

<p>Momofthree - I know you're still in "waiting for a decision/sign from God" mode. Shall we start a betting pool?</p>